Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I mean, as the Member stated, he's quite regularly raised the issue. Whether it was last year at this time going through this department about the establishment, but it was voted by Members of this House to establish it and I thank Members for their support. As for Mr. Ramsay and his concern with what will be provided, I will be more than happy, once we get up and running, to share the kind of work that's being done and share with Members of this House the kind of work that's coming through that shop. I believe if we are going to establish new positions, we are going to have to be able to produce through those positions. That's something I intend to have happen through the shop. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Ramsay.

No, that's good. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. We are on page 3-23, Finance, activity summary, fiscal policy, operations expenditure summary, $1.244 million. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. For the record, I will, as my colleague Mr. Ramsay has stated his concern and his opposition to the macroeconomic unit, I will repeat my support for this unit. It is an expectation that we do need a level and a depth and a bit of sophistication brought to economic impacts and circumstances that this is my expectation that this will bring.

Mr. Chairman, I also look at situations like Mr. Miltenberger highlighted so eloquently tonight and in so many other addresses to this Assembly about the need to look at things through an environmental lens. We have

heard it for years and years that there should also be a social lens applied to whatever project or initiative or policy or program that may come our way.

It is my expectation that these are things that this unit will bring into play for us. It will not just be a macroeconomic, perhaps some of the terminology could be reviewed or revamped as this thing gets going, but I do endorse this increment to our skill set.

Mr. Chairman, it's already been mentioned. I had it on my notes here to make sure it got some airing was the accumulated $65 million that we have deemed a valid cost for Metis and aboriginal and Inuit health care benefits that Northern Affairs deems not. That is one of the fundamental things that we should go to bat for, and we should go to bat for it loud and as hard as we can. On one side, it's a fiscal situation that we are grappling with, but it puts these other Canadians at a different tier of care and responsibility at government. I think that's wrong. I hope that we can achieve not just some bill collecting here, but some new terms under which everybody will be deemed and entitled to this same level of care.

Mr. Chairman, my final point in this area here as has been played recently. Mr. Chairman, at the Minister's invitation, our Minister of Finance and the federal Minister of Finance, I put my ore into the federal budget and said the northern residents tax deduction, it is high time after 19 years, should be reviewed and increased. We went through an exercise here a little while ago where we asked the Premier and the Minister to work with his counterpart in our sister territories and see what kind of a combined effort we could get going. I am wondering if the Minister has anything new to report on that front and whether or not we can anticipate something potentially in the next budget, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we have begun to work on that one as three territories. There is a territorial working group established and working on that front. As well, I have written to all other Finance Ministers requesting their support on increasing the northern residents tax deduction. I am starting to get their responses back from them agreeing to look at that situation. In fact, I had one of my colleagues actually forward on my letter to the federal Finance Minister. I was hoping we could come together with a provincial/territorial front and joint initiative, but at the same time it doesn't hurt to have everybody's have the heads up. I don't think what we are asking for is out of line. In fact, the way we have packaged it up, we have taken from its inception, I believe 1988, and just worked on the cost of living factor and what it would be equal to today and requested that that would be the figure we are starting to work from.

So with our working group from the three territories and now starting to get input from other jurisdictions, we are hoping we can bring it forward to what my goal is and bring it to the provincial/territorial Ministers' there to the federal table as well for action. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Braden. Thank you. We are on page 3-23, Finance, activity summary, fiscal policy, operations expenditure summary, $1.244 million.

Turn to page 3-26, Finance, information item, work performed on behalf of others.

Page 3-27, Finance, information item, liquor revolving fund. Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Chair, I am going to ask this question at a different angle. I will ask about the authority. I am asking this question like in our language...(English not provided)...they are alive but they've got no ears. They can hear what's going on, but they don't have ears. So I keep asking this question, Mr. Chair. Can the liquor revolving fund be used to offset some programs and services? The Minister keeps referring that it goes into a general revolving fund and other programs go to it. We actually had more money going to treatment programs and drug and alcohol programs, which I know is true. I have seen it and it was explained to me. What do we need to look at in terms of being insistent and persistent like some Members on issues and take some of this money from the commission, the board, to symbolically say that you have a slush fund of $6 million or so? They do have that money for operating. There is money there at the end of the year that can be used for a territorial campaign for getting youth off of drugs.

If you do have one. As a government, how can we symbolically say $50,000, so be it, or $500,000 goes to a program that says this is for the youth? I know this money is coming off of sales off our people's back. It causes a lot of harm for our people. We have $20 million sitting here. I know we put a lot of money into different programs in the Northwest Territories to help our families and our people. Yet we collect a lot of revenue for this. That's what I am looking at, at a moral issue. Right now, it doesn't make any sense. I will take any type of helpful suggestions from the Minister. I will keep working on it. I will keep bringing it up here. I will keep pushing it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am going to say the Member is consistent on this issue. I wouldn't be surprised if he came up with his own title. Instead of surplus, he would name it the addictions fund surplus or something of that nature. If you look at the authorized funding limit of $6.5 million...I will get Ms. Melhorn to give some detail as to the $6.5 million, an authorized fund limit. That doesn't mean the money is there, but it's the process that's used. For more detail, if you look at the surplus of $21.56 million at the bottom of page 3-27, and you flip back to page 3-10 under revenue summary, it shows up there. The money is put back into the government's overall fund for expenditure. From there, the Department of Health and Social Services -- I will use that as a specific example -- draws down its allocation of funds and then puts the money towards addiction programs, towards the social workers in communities, whether it's the justice end or detoxification. All of those initiatives get funded out of that general revenue. So there

is no money sitting there anymore. It all gets put in and gets spent towards the delivery of our health care program here in the Northwest Territories. Of course, we know $21 million doesn't come close to touching the amount we spend on it.

For the actual authorized fund limit, I will have Ms. Melhorn give that detail, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Ms. Melhorn.

Thank you, Ms. Melhorn. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have been encouraged to speak a little more by my colleagues...

---Laughter

...so I am going to ask the Minister again on this question here. I do recognize that this government does put a lot of money into programs that are needed in the communities and that are needed here in the larger centres. We even have one Territorial Treatment Centre that is desperately in need and is operating now. These types of programs, and I know what the Minister is saying, I guess what I am asking next week or next month again, in terms of symbolically, I know what he is saying. Excuse me, in my language because it could be interpreted as a wrong term in terms of whoever is watching, reading or listening to this, symbolically, the people in our region, we know the amount of dollars that we spent at the Norman Wells liquor store and programs that could be used by these dollars in a symbolic gesture. You can call it the addiction fund, but something.

I guess that's what I am asking. If I am not going to get anywhere, I will leave it at this right now. That's what I am asking if the Finance department would look at something like that. People do appreciate the amount of money that is going to programs for our people. I have said that before. We do take care of them pretty good in the Northwest Territories. It's really good that we do. I will leave it at that, Mr. Chair. I would just like the Minister to maybe write me a different letter on how to explain this. I just wanted to voice it again. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Roland.